The public’s approval rate for the ruling Grand National Party has fallen steadily over the past four years, recently hitting its lowest level ever, according to some local public polls.

The rate as of Monday was 27.3 percent, a crash from the record high 57.4 percent scored in December 2008, showed a recent survey conducted by Munhwa Ilbo.

The rates first took a downturn in the first half of 2008, after the party’s sweeping victory in the general election, and fell visibly, affected by the global economic crisis in the latter half of the year, according to past surveys.

The rampant scuffles during the National Assembly’s plenary sessions also negatively affected the party’s image.

The GNP, despite its efforts to regain public confidence, once again faced a dead-end as liberal non-party figures such as Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Won-soon moved into the spotlight after Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon resigned.

Though Ahn has not yet entered politics, it has been suggest that he could seek to form a new liberal political party.

In the Munhwa Ilbo survey, 40.9 percent of respondents said that they would support Ahn’s party, if formed. Also, 44.1 percent answered that they would favor the new party over the GNP.

Both the GNP and the main opposition Democratic Party only gained 27.3 percent in the given survey, indicating the people’s call for a new political power.

In a survey led by the special affairs ministry of young voters in their 20s and 30s, 84 percent of the respondents answered that none of the current political parties were properly representing them.


By Bae Hyun-jung
(tellme@heraldcorp.com)